


To Trust A Servant

by Authoress_Lilly



Series: To Trust [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Agravaine Can Apparently Talk His Way Out of Anything, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Light Angst, Or at least shake some sense into Arthur, Protective Gwaine (Merlin), Slow on the Uptake Arthur, Someone has to kick him where it hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21550579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Authoress_Lilly/pseuds/Authoress_Lilly
Summary: I am sorry I acted without your permission, Arthur, but trust me when I say I only had Camelot’s best interests at heart.”Trust.Arthur was beginning to hate that word.Immediate Sequel following To Trust MeArthur's point of view
Series: To Trust [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535975
Comments: 38
Kudos: 154





	To Trust A Servant

**Author's Note:**

> This is so much later than I thought it would be.
> 
> Laundry has been kicking my ass.
> 
> Enjoy :)

The situation rapidly spirals out of Arthur’s control and Merlin turns away, heading for the door. 

“Merlin, wait!”  
“No Arthur! I cannot wait anymore! I have been putting my life on the line for you, for years! Either you believe me, or you do not!”  
“Try to understand, Merlin! He is the last of my relatives that I can trust! My uncle!”  
Merlin’s face goes blank as he yanks the door open. “Yes he is.” He speaks quietly, almost as if to himself. “And I suppose I... am only a servant.” 

There are many things that Arthur wants to say, but without even a backwards glance, Merlin is gone.  
The door slams shut with an air of finality.

***

Arthur is at his desk trying desperately to unearth the speech Merlin wrote for him two days before, when there is a hesitant knock on his door.  
“Enter.”

There’s a flicker of something in his chest as he wonders if it’s Merlin come for his job back and he sighs in disappointment as the royal bookkeeper Minus of Trigor pokes his head in.

“Ah, Sire,” He bows his head politely and at Arthur’s nod, steps fully into the room. His arms are full of scrolls and sweat drips down the side of his face. “I have need for your approval… your seal… for a large sum…”  
Arthur sits up straight and simply looks at the man.  
“Yes. You see Sire,” He moves to place his pile on the table, seems to flinch at the existing chaos before summarily dumping the scrolls on the vacant chair, deftly pulling one free. “Your former manservant Merlin-”  
Arthur flinches.  
“-paid me a visit this morning. Said he was no longer employed here and needed his back wages.”

Arthur raises an eyebrow and Minus clears his throat. “Yes, well I thought he meant the last wage but when I checked the books he wasn’t anywhere in them so I asked him what his usual wage was and he shrugged and said he had thought Gaius was forwarding it to his mother but it turned out that...um… you see... “ the man looks down and mumbles the rest under his breath.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE HAS NEVER RECEIVED A WAGE?!?"  
“J-just th-that Sire, you see, I was quite new to the post when the boy first became your manservant and as all other servants are quite diligent about showing up on payday, I never really noticed that he was not making an appearance.”  
“You never questioned the fact that he was the only servant missing on those days?”  
The man clears his throat awkwardly. “Well Sire, there were times when he missed it due to herb-gathering for Gaius or hunting trips and patrols with Your Highness… I must have simply assumed that either Gaius or yourself had collected it for him at a later date…”  
“I do not understand.”  
“Well Sire,” the man clears his throat again and Arthur finds himself internally raging at the pathetic boot-licker. “When young Merlin came to see me today, requesting his full payment as he would be leaving Camelot for good this time-”  
Arthur startles and immediately interjects. “Wait, what? Leaving Camelot?”  
The man gives an apologetic bow, as if it were somehow his fault Arthur had been unaware. “Quite right, Sire. I believe he said something about a mother. Anyway, I had to go all the way back to when he was first hired and find out what happened because, well like I said before, he wasn’t anywhere. I finally found him the day he saved your Highness from that witch and followed the trail to calculate accordingly and I finally realized the problem!” The man sits smugly as if awaiting a compliment for actually doing his job and Arthur lets him stew in silence.

“Right.” He coughs awkwardly. “I discovered he was sacked and replaced by some lad named Cedric some years ago and… uh… it would seem… never reentered into the roster?”  
Arthur’s face turns stony.  
“What ever happened to this Cedric anyway? He hasn’t shown up to collect his wages in years either.”  
Arthur clenches his teeth but says nothing and eventually Minus simply hands Arthur the release form for the treasury.

***

Arthur is taking a brisk walk past the training fields to clear his head when it happens.  
“Oi! Princess!”  
Arthur groans at the angry man heading his way.  
“Sir Gwaine, I find myself not in the mood today. I have just discovered that my idiot of a manservant never collected any of his wages.”  
That seems to stop Gwaine in his tracks. “...manservant’s get wages?”

Arthur is suddenly annoyed. “Yes Gwaine, all members of the castle staff receive a wage. Otherwise, they would be called slaves!”  
Gwaine tilts his head and speaks in a carefully neutral tone. “Well it just seemed obvious to the rest of us. I mean, there we all are, in our nice toasty cloaks, and what’s Merlin got? That older than he is jacket with those damned necktie things? The same couple shirts, thin as a lady’s nightie from too much washing?” He suddenly sneers. “You’d have to have your head firmly up your own arse not to notice he wasn’t getting paid.”  
“I am your king, Gwaine! You will show me respect!”  
“Actually, I’m not a born citizen of Camelot. Much like Merlin, I was born over the border and simply chose to serve you. Because I believed what Merlin always said about you. But he’s leaving now, isn’t he?”  
Arthur rages silently as the scruffy knight waxes on. “You know I went with him to find Gaius? Guess what I found when I got there.” He pauses with relish and leans close. “Agravaine. Oh he told a tale of noticing us leaving and following closely and I bought it for a while. But see here’s the thing. If he was following us... How’d he get there first?”

The man turns to go and then stops. “Ah, before I forget!” He swiftly undoes the clasp at his throat and tosses his cloak at Arthur’s feet. “I’ll be keeping my sword, chainmail and horse instead of my last payment. Would hate to have to go back inside when I can just join Merlin now, ay?”

Arthur is unsure how long he stands there, thinking over all Gwaine said.

He’s only half surprised when Gwaine returns for the cloak, mumbling about symbolism and winter.

***

It’s late but Arthur has been unable to fall asleep and has long given up.  
He sits by his window, thinking when he hears something that draws his gaze to the courtyard.  
There’s a patrol returning.

Arthur gets to his feet, chair tipping in his haste. 

He hadn’t sent out any patrols.

He rushes out to meet them and catches them as they are handing off their horses to the stable hands.  
“What’s this then?”  
The knights freeze before bowing, murmurs of “Your Majesty” ringing out.  
Arthur has a moment to notice that these are all fresh troops, none of ‘his’ knights present.  
“Well?”  
“Sorry Sire” one of them finally speaks up hesitantly. “We failed to apprehend the traitor. Sir Gwaine arrived on a fresh horse as we were arresting him and they managed to ride off.”

Two men shout out at once and it takes Arthur a minute to figure what they’ve said.  
“That’s the former Sir Gwaine! He’s just a peasant like the traitor Merlin now.”  
“I think I managed to injure one of them! But in the dark of the forest it was impossible to tell…”

Arthur finally manages to splutter. “What? Merlin isn’t a traitor. Who authorized this?”  
There’s some more shuffling and Arthur seethes.  
Finally the one who spoke before says, “Lord Agravaine sent us to capture Merlin dead or alive on account of him trying to leave Camelot with state secrets. Sire.”

The world stops. Arthur barely manages to hiss out a “Dismissed.” before he’s thundering to his Uncle’s rooms.  
He throws the doors open and is immensely satisfied by his Uncle yelping and falling out of bed.

“Up Uncle! I’ve just intercepted a returning patrol! A patrol I had no idea about! Someone is trying to undermine me and I’ll need your help to question them! We’ll soon find out who is behind this. Accusing Merlin of trying to leave Camelot with state secrets. What utter nonsense.”

Agravaine finally manages to cinch a dressing robe over himself and smooths a hand into his hair. “Actually Arthur, I sent the patrol. You are far too trusting when it comes to that boy and I didn’t want to burden you."  
“Merlin would never-”  
“Willingly? Of course not Arthur, but do you see that weak, scrawny little boy, withholding torture? Merlin has left not only the city proper, but his final destination of Ealdor is over our borders. I know his skill with the written word has been utilized by you and Gaius more than once and with all the knowledge he has gained from working in Camelot for all these years… He has made quite a name for himself as your manservant. Do you think there are any in that poor, backwards little village, that would be able to resist the temptation of turning him in? Or his mother? I am sorry I acted without your permission, Arthur, but trust me when I say I only had Camelot’s best interests at heart.”

And there it was.

That word again.

Trust.

Arthur was beginning to hate it.

**Author's Note:**

> Good old Minus of Trigor, son of Percentoss and Fracta.  
> We may meet him again.


End file.
